Energy storage deployments in emerging markets could grow 40% annually over the next five years, from 2GW today to 80GW, but barriers include the lack of access to low-cost capital, a new report from the International Finance Corporation has found.
The IFC, which finances and provides advice for private sector ventures and projects in developing countries, has produced Energy storage trends and opportunities in emerging markets. Its authors, analysts Alex Eller and Dexter Gauntlett of Navigant Research, took an exhaustive look at everything from physical grid infrastructure to market design and regulatory structures and the different uses and applications for energy storage.
At present, some 1.2 billion people in the world lack access to electricity. Eller and Gauntlett quote the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4All) that US$45 billion in investment through 2030 would be required to provide universal access to “modern electric power”.
Energy storage is a vital tool for enabling the increased use of renewable energy and other distributed resources and in providing resilience to power supplies, the report says, but the development of energy storage systems (ESS) has been confined to a small number of select markets.
“Despite rapidly falling costs, ESSs remain expensive and the significant upfront investment required is difficult to overcome without government support and/or low-cost financing,” the authors write.
Eastern Europe and Latin American countries showing promise
Much of the report is an overview assessment of the global picture including the factors which might influence the speed and scale of adoption of energy storage in different regions. Worldwide the report’s authors anticipate the addition of 378.1GW of solar and wind generation capacity over the next five years, with the added variability forming a powerful driver for utility-scale storage in particular. The reduction of carbon emissions mandated by the multilateral Paris Agreement could also mean inertia on the grid is provided increasingly by large-scale storage systems.
While existing grid infrastructure could lean on energy storage to provide a growing number of services, remote microgrids could drastically reduce their dependence on diesel fuel to meet energy demand, the report highlights. Cost comparisons show both utility-scale and distributed lithium ion battery storage systems competing favourably with diesel in terms of annual fuel savings, with an installed cost of US$2,062 per kilowatt and US$2,150.3 per kilowatt respectively and saving US$2,223.6 per kilowatt in fuel costs in either case.
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